The Nazis called them 'Night Witches' because the whooshing noise their plywood and canvas airplanes made reminded the Germans of the sound of a witch’s broomstick. The Russian women who piloted those planes, onetime crop dusters, took it as a compliment. In 30,000 missions over four years, they dumped 23,000 tons of bombs on the German invaders, ultimately helping to chase them back to Berlin. Any German pilot who downed a 'witch' was awarded an Iron Cross. These young heroines, all volunteers and most in their teens and early 20s, became legends of World War II but are now largely forgotten. Flying only in the dark, they had no parachutes, guns, radios or radar, only maps and compasses. If hit by tracer bullets, their planes would burn like sheets of paper." So begins a NY Times tribute to one of the most famous "Night Witches," Nadezhda Popova, pictured here. Popova, who flew 852 missions during the war, passed away in 2013 at the age of 91

Just got an e-mail from the VA saying that Congress passed a bill authorizing them to continue G.I. Bill living stipend payments like normal during this crisis. (And any future crises that force a college to switch to online instruction.) It's been sent to POTUS and he'll be signing it ASAP. This is quite a load off of my mind. I was wondering how that was going to be handled and was about to send a letter to my Congressman, Senator & President Trump on this very issue. TYVM Congress for doing your job well on this matter. I just wish it didn't take a global pandemic/national emergency to get you to fix a problem that we probably didn't even know existed before. :P #Covid19 #College #GIBill #VeteransIssues